Riot Games Announces Opposition To SOPA And PIPA

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Riot Games have announced their opposition to SOPA and PIPA. TheLeague of Legends developers have publicly come out against both pieces of controversial legislation because they felt they were misguided attempts to prevent illegal piracy of copyrighted content.

"This proposed legislation actually threatens any website that features user-generated content. In effect, any copyright holder could file a claim that a streaming website is hosting unauthorized content (such as a song in the background of a League of Legends stream). Under the law, ad networks, payment providers and internet service providers are now potentially liable for their user’s infringement. These services could then be compelled to immediately remove support for a streaming website or face a costly legal battle – at a minimum cutting off financial means, and likely shutting off the site entirely."

Riot Games listed several ways in which SOPA and PIPA would alter the gaming industry for the worse. These are their reasons.

How would SOPA/PIPA impact League of Legends players according to Riot:

"Kills streaming. If any single streamer plays copyrighted music (or alt tabs into a movie or other owned content) on their stream, there is a significant risk of the entire streaming service being taken down. In some cases, it could even result in criminal penalties for the streamer."

"Threatens independent content creation. Services we all use to create and share League of Legends related content, such as YouTube, Reddit, DeviantArt, streaming websites such as Own3d and Twitch, and more would be at risk of shutting down or greatly restricting the scope of legitimate content allowed on their sites."

"Attacks our community. Aspects of our service such as the official forums and potentially even in-game chat, could be taken down or have their features reduced based on user behavior."

"Other harmful effects. SOPA/PIPA undermine established intellectual property legislation like the DMCA, raise serious constitutional free speech issues, and could even compromise the basic security infrastructure of the internet."

Riot Games is one of the few developers to denounce the legislation. Several developers have "disagreed" with SOPA in "its current form" but only handful of companies have cited the numerous ways SOPA and PIPA would damage the gaming community. Companies like Epic Games have posted on their forums, voicing their disapproval of SOPA. The ESA fully backs SOPA; all of its members, by association also support SOPA. Nintendo, Sony, and EA are among the companies that have announced they are pulling their support but are still members of The ESA, meaning they still support it.

The gaming community aren't the only ones taking notice of the Riot's actions. Congressmen Jared Polis of Colorado posted in the League of Legends forums, voicing his support for Riots's choice. He has been an avid opponent to SOPA in congress. He's also a League of Legends player. He said:

"I’m particularly concerned that SOPA might stifle the kind of innovation that brings us games we love, such as LoL. The bill makes it far too easy for angry competitors to sue good law abiding companies out of existence."